Strangers
by CameronNinjaDragons
Summary: She rolled onto her side, prepared to sit up and get out of bed, only to realize something. She wasn't IN her bed. In fact, she wasn't even home. (Rating subject to change.)
1. Chapter 1

_**What is up guys? CameronNinjaDragons here, and this is actually a story that I've been working on for a while now. But as one of the actual books that I've been writing. And I've decided to sorta "test the waters" and see how much you guys like it.**_

 _ **This is an AU where there are no ninja, and our heroes don't know each other. Meaning that Jay and Nya, my chosen candidates (because they're easiest to mess with XD), have no idea who the other one is. Now, the original story has Wess and Blue from my story "On My Own", but it has VERY different versions of those two characters. For one, Blue is actually a shy, jumpy girl, but Wess is pretty much the same.**_

 _ **Anywho, I'll stop my rambling and get on with the story.**_

Nya woke up, rubbing tiredly at her eyes. She rolled onto her side, prepared to sit up and get out of bed, only to realize something.

She wasn't _in_ her bed.

In fact, she wasn't even home.

Her eyes snapped open as she rolled onto her back, looking up. High above her was a ceiling, metal beams supporting the roof, and with a stray chain strung through the rafters. A hook dangled at one end, and it seemed to be stained with something.

Nya sat up, taking in what was around her. She was wearing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, hiking boots that went a few inches higher than her ankles, a light blue long-sleeved shirt, and a pale red spaghetti-strap tank-top over that. There was also a small flashlight around her neck, hanging by a thick, black chain. She noticed a backpack a few feet away from her, and crawled over to it. Nya sat on the ground, pulling it to her and wrapping her legs around it before unzipping it.

There were several bottles of water inside, as well as two apples, and more granola bars then she cared to count. She zipped the bag back up before putting it on and shakily rising to her feet.

Nya felt awful; she had a splitting headache, and wanted nothing more than to be able to go back to sleep. She felt...

"Drugged!" Nya hissed. She rubbed the back of her neck, prodding, searching for something. But then she let out a hiss, finding a small bump that sent a shot of pain through her body. Nya stumbled a little, quickly removing her hand from the bump.

She began to look around again, only this time, she saw something much different.

Nya saw a boy laying on the floor.

She quickly walked over to him, crouching down. Nya put her hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him. But he simply let out a groan, pushing her hand away. She let out a sigh, sitting down, deciding to wait until he woke up on his own.

Nya smiled slightly, looking at the boy in front of her, He had short, messy, red-orange hair, and a mass of freckles on his cheeks and over the bridge of his nose. He was wearing a grey long-sleeved shirt with a blue t-shirt over it, a pair of faded blue jeans, and grey sneakers. He was curled up around his backpack, and was holding it to his chest.

"I hope he wakes up soon," Nya mumbled. "I really don't feel like heading into this place on my own..."

Then, a loud scream echoed down one of the hallways, making Nya jump to her feet.

The boy in front of her instantly sat up, turning to Nya with fear in his blue eyes.

"Who the hell are you?!" He cried, jumping to his feet, the backpack still hugged to his chest. "And where are we?!" Nya stared at the boy, scared by his sudden outburst, and also worried that he had just alerted whatever had made that person scream like that.

"I-I'm Nya," she said after a minute, taking a deep breath to try to slow her heartbeat. "And I have no idea where we are. I just woke up a few minutes ago." She stole a glance back over her shoulder at the open door, which led into one of the pitch-black hallways. "But I _really_ don't think we should hang around here for very long." The boy looked at her, his blue eyes still full of fear. But they now had another emotion that Nya couldn't quite place.

"Jay," he said, holding his hand out to Nya. "And I hate to say this, but you're probably right." He looked nervously at the door. "That sounded too close for comfort." Nya shook Jay's hand, nodding in agreement.

"But I don't like the look of those hallways," she said, rubbing her arms.

"Neither do I," Jay admitted.

* * *

The two had spent a few minutes going over what supplies they had, and, after a few minutes, walked towards one of the closed doors.

"Hey Nya, can you pass me that flashlight?"

"You didn't get one?"

"Not that I know of."

Nya walked up to Jay, removing the chain from around her neck and handing it to Jay. He walked over to the door, pulling a small envelope off of the front. He gestured for Nya to come closer before he opened it, gripping the light in his teeth. He held the letter with one hand, and took the flashlight out of his mouth.

 _Greetings contestants!_

 _We would like to thank you for taking our little "test." You and your partner will have to find your way out of this building. It's simple, really._

 _But we would like to warn you; there are various monsters and other people in this building. If you get hurt, you will have to take care of it on your own, and if you die, then you have lost._

 _Good Luck!_

Nya gulped, and Jay dropped the letter to the floor, closing his eyes.

"I-I'm sure we'll be fine," Nya said, trying to reassure herself more than Jay. "T-They just put that there to scare us, r-right?" Jay nodded, turning to Nya.

"Right," he said, starting to push the door open.

But then they heard claws hitting the tile of the hallway where the scream had come from, and it was coming towards them. It was fast.

 _Too_ fast.

" _Run!_ " Nya yelled, opening the door and pulling Jay through after her.

 _ **So this is the first chapter of "Strangers." Let me know what you guys thought of this! Also, even though this is rated T, it's probably gonna change to M at some point. CameronNinjaDragons, signing off.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**LiaLia15: Yes, they are still brother and sister in this story. There's gonna be a lot of backstory revealed about a couple of different characters that are gonna be revealed later in this story. Including a few of the characters made specifically for this story.**_

 _ **AnimeHails: Holy crap! This is honestly the most thought out review that I've ever gotten, and it's also given me a lot of advice for my story. Thank you!**_

"I- I think... we're good," Nya said, breathing heavily with her hands on her knees. Jay nodded, coughing loudly before swinging his backpack off his shoulders and dropping to the floor. "Are you okay?" Jay coughed again before answering.

"Hopefully," he said, reaching for his bag and weakly pulling it towards him. He sat up, digging through his backpack and pulling out one of his water bottles. Jay quickly twisted off the cap, drinking about half the bottle before stopping, handing it to Nya. "Here."

"Uh, no, thanks," she said, holding up her hands. Nya reached for her bag, but Jay stopped her.

"We should try and keep as many bottles unopened for as long as we can," Jay said. "We don't know how long we're gonna be in here." Nya sighed, looking at him before taking the water bottle, finishing off the contents before handing it back to Jay. Nya glanced around at the hallway that they had run into. The area was dark, and it was barely light enough to see what was around her.

The floor was made of tile, and had probably been white at one point. Now it was a dirty, muddled grey. The walls were made of large blocks, most of which had retained their pale color. The hallway was rather wide, yet certain parts were thinned, clogged with desks, chairs, bookcases, and pieces of stone and broken boards of splintery wood. Dark stains were splattered on the walls, as well as on the floor, and some of the stains were still wet, seeing as there were footprints on the floor from where Jay and Nya had stepped.

The air had a musky smell, a coppery tang that Nya couldn't quite place, and the smell of something rotten. Something that had _definitely_ been dead for a while. And Nya wasn't at all eager to find out where, or _what_ it was.

"Can I see the flashlight?" Nya asked, holding her hand out to Jay, though she didn't look at him.

"Nuh-uh," Jay said. "Don't you know anything? Flashlights _always_ lead to death in horror movies and video games. It's better to just stick to the shadows." Nya shot Jay a glare, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"And I can't even see a thing when we're _not_ in the shadows," Nya retorted sharply.

"Even better!" Jay said happily, and a little too loudly, because he quickly slapped his hands over his mouth.

"Give me the flashlight," Nya said. Jay shook his head, his hands still covering his mouth, his blue eyes fearful.

"For crying-! Are _all_ boys this... irritating?" She quickly snapped her arm out, grasping the flashlight and forcing Jay's head to move down, letting her pull the flashlight off of his neck. "Now, was that so hard?"

"N-Nya..." Jay whined, pointing behind her.

"What is it now, Jay?" She snapped, turning on her heel, and stopping dead in her tracks.

In front of her was a seven-foot-tall boy, with brown eyes and purple hair tied back into a ponytail. He had been wearing a shirt at one point, but now it was just ragged fabric that barely covered his torso. One of his shoes was missing, and his left pant leg had been ripped off at the knee. There was a gash above his left eye, and Nya wasn't sure if his eye was still there. His exposed knee was oozing blood and a yellowish-green fluid. His body was covered in blood, most of it still wet, but there weren't any cuts on his torso.

"YOU LITTLE _SHITS!_ " He roared, lunging at Jay and Nya. Nya let out a startled yelp, jumping back towards Jay before grabbing his wrist and taking off down the hallway.

"Ow! I can run on my own, y'know!" Jay cried, trying to make Nya let go of his wrist. She ignored him, instead weaving between the piles of debris in the hallway. She could hear the blood-covered boy crashing though the piles, swearing and screaming as he ran, knocking over the debris.

"YOU _KILLED_ HER!" He screamed, gaining on the pair. "YOU _KILLED_ KEIRA!"

" _Nya?!_ He's getting closer!" Jay yelled, turning and looking at the boy before running after Nya. There was a gap in the floor up ahead, about four feet across. It dropped down to the floor below it, which was about ten feet below them.

"No shit!" Nya snapped, swinging Jay in front of her, forcing him to speed up. "Now get ready to jump!"

"Are you _crazy?!_ I'll _die_ if I fall that far!"

" _Across_ the gap, you idiot!"

And then it was time for Jay to jump.

Nya watched as Jay lept across the gap, landing on the other side. But the structure proved to be weaker then Nya anticipated, and about a foot of the concrete fell to the floor below. Nya knew that she had two options: jump across and pray that she made it, or get caught by the maniac behind her, and have _her_ blood on his remains of a shirt, too.

Nya chose the first option.

She waited until the last possible moment before she jumped. Arms stretched out towards the ledge on the other side, fingers waiting to feel the rough concrete and sharp edges of the broken tiles on the palms of her hands. Nya slammed into the ledge, her fingers scrabbling for some sort of hold, something, _anything_ to hold onto. But she was slipping, falling backwards, about to fall-!

When she felt a pair of hands latch onto her wrists, and begin to pull her up onto the floor.

"Don't just sit there!" Jay wheezed, his feet sliding on the tiles as he tried to pull her up. " _Do_ something!" Nya nodded, her legs churning in the air until they caught on something, and she was pulled up onto the floor. She was shaking and her heart was beating wildly, but she was _alive_. Then she heard a sicking _crack_ from below her, and looked from where she had jumped, only to see that the maniac was no longer there.

But when she looked over the edge of the floor, he wasn't there, either. Just a small puddle of blood.

Nya shakily crawled back a few feet, dragged herself to where Jay was, and collapsed a few feet away from here he was laying. She rolled onto her back, taking a deep breath before letting out a nervous, shaky laugh.

"Holy shit," she murmured, closing her eyes. "Holy _fucking_ shit." She laughed again, and that was when she noticed that her face was damp. She was crying, and she hadn't even realized it.

"I'd say that about sums it up," Jay said in agreement, flinging his arm across his face, covering his eyes.

* * *

The two of them laid there in silence for a while. Neither of them knew how long it was; if it was a few minutes, or a few hours, but neither particularly cared. They were just glad that there was at least _some_ form of peace in that place. But after a while, the question that was burning in the back of Nya's mind was just too much to bear.

"Why did you save me?"

Jay lazily turned to look at Nya, moving his arm from his face to the floor.

"Pardon?"

"Why did you save me?" Nya asked again, sitting up this time and looking at Jay, who was still sprawled on the floor. "You could have just kept running and let me fall. Why didn't you?" Jay sat up as well, studying Nya for a long while before answering.

"You're my partner," he stated, grinning at her. It was a genuine smile, and Nya was taken aback by it a little.

"I-"

"Wouldn't you do the same thing for me?"

Nya froze, looking at Jay. The look on his face was that of a puppy; his head was tilted to the side, and he had genuine curiosity on his face. After a moment Nya nodded, not having the greatest trust in her voice at the moment. Jay smiled, getting to his feet and holding out his hand.

"Let's go find a place to sit and talk for a while," he offered, that same smile on his face, just dulled. Nya took his hand, stumbling a little when she first got to her feet. The two of them started off down the hallway, keeping their backs to the hole in the floor. The two of them walk down the hallway until doors start to branch off at either side of them. Jay beckons to Nya when he finds a door that has been ripped off its hinges, now simply resting against it's frame.

Jay glanced inside the room before pulling the door away so he could step inside. He stepped out a minute later, nodding to Nya. She warily followed him, fitting the door back into the frame once she was inside. The room was only about ten feet wide, and it was only five feet to the wall opposite from the door. The opposing wall opened up to outside, but had begun to crumble away. There had clearly been a window there at one point, but now there was just a hole in the wall.

Outside, the sky was almost a pitch-black. The stars were small pinpricks in the sky, and seemed too far away. They were so... _cold_. There were wispy clouds blotting out some of the stars in the sky, as well as the moon. There was the heavy, muggy heat in the air that was heralding a storm.

It looked as if someone had been living in the place, because there was a pile of blankets in one corner of the room. There were also several cans of food, as well as water bottles. Jay quickly pulled his backpack off, putting all the food into it.

"Shit," Nya muttered, looking over at Jay. "I forgot my bag when that maniac started chasing us."

"It's okay," Jay said, "there's enough room in my backpack. Besides, it doesn't seem like it's _too_ difficult to find food and water."

"Okay," Nya said, sitting down on the floor and crossing her legs. "So, what do you want to talk about?" Jay shrugged, sitting down on the floor with Nya.

"Why don't you start with your family?" Jay offered, dropping his backpack on the floor.

"Okay," Nya said before trailing off with a yawn.

"Or... we could sleep first," Jay said with a chuckle. Nya shook her head.

"One of us should probably keep... *yawn* watch first," she said, rubbing at her eyes.

"You can sleep first," he said, patting Nya's shoulder. "You _did_ almost die earlier." Nya shook her head, but Jay wrapped his fingers around her upper arms, standing her up and walking her over to the pile of blankets and sitting her down. Nya felt her cheeks flush red as he let go, the lingering warmth of his palms on his upper arms.

"Are you sure?" Nya asked, looking up at Jay as she wrapped one of the thin blankets around her shoulders. She took the flashlight off from around her neck, holding it out to Jay.

"Of course!" Jay said happily, taking the flashlight from her hand and sitting by the door. "Goodnight!" Nya chuckled, shaking her head.

"Goodnight, Jay."

 _ **There we go! Chapter two it officially done, and I'm officially tired! Oh, and guess what? This is the longest chapter I've ever written! I know, it's only like, 2,000 words long, but hey!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**I just realized that I've literally given out ZERO information about the two other main characters that are gonna be in this story. I haven't added them to Forgotten Village, On My Own, Twisted Ninjago, heck, they aren't even in the Oc War! These two have been developed entirely behind the scenes, and that honestly surprises even me. I haven't even said their names!**_

 _ **ebony umbreon: Thank you so much! And to be honest, I have put a ton of thought into this story. Whenever I would have a writing prompt at school, I would end up writing parts of the story that would include Wess, Blue, or one of the two other characters that are gonna be revealed either this chapter, or within the next few chapters.**_

Nya was woken up a few hours later by pale light shining into the room. At first, she thought that it had all been a dream, and she was wrapped in her own blankets. But when she opened her eyes, she saw the hole in the stone wall, and let out a sigh.

It wasn't a dream.

She really _did_ almost die last night.

Nya's gaze scanned the room, landing on the figure slumped against the wall by the doorway. At first, Nya feared that Jay was dead, but then she saw his chest slowly rise and then fall, and let out a relieved sigh. She shifted a little, pulling the thin blanket tighter around her shoulders before letting out a hiss of pain.

Her arm had pressed against her stomach, and that's when she had remembered what had happened yesterday. Nya had slammed her stomach full-force into the concrete when she had jumped across the the hole in the floor. Looking at Jay to make sure he was asleep, she pulled the blanket away from herself and lifted the two layers of shirts that were covering her stomach.

The skin underneath was a mottled mess of black and purple, and her stomach was swollen, too. It hurt when she lightly brushed her fingers across the skin, and she slowly rolled the shirts back over her skin, closing her eyes afterwards. She let out a quiet sigh and leaned back before opening her eyes again.

Nya looked around the room again, her gaze soon falling on the object at her feet. Her backpack was sitting on the floor in front of her, a note laid on top of it. Nya stood up, letting out a hiss of pain before grabbing the note, looking down at it.

 _Congratulations, contestants!_

 _You have survived your first day here! We regret to inform you that not all of your fellow participants have survived as far as you have, though. You may find them, or, what's left of them, scattered throughout the building. You and your partner have shown some promise, and we will be keeping a close eye on you._

Nya looked down at the note, preparing to crumple it. But then she heard Jay beginning to stir, his feet shifting some of the brick pieces on the floor. She slowly walked over to him, wincing a little, before sitting down next to him. Nya sat there quietly, waiting for her supposed partner to wake up.

It took at least half an hour, and Nya had ended up dozing off, leaning against the wall next to Jay. She was still holding the note, but when she woke up, it wasn't in her hands anymore, and there was a crumpled piece of paper at Jay's feet.

"We should just ignore those things," he said once he was sure that Nya was awake. "I mean, it's not like they do us any good, y'know?" Nya nodded, not really sure as to what she was agreeing to.

"Sure," she said, getting to her feet. Nya let out a hiss of pain, clutching at her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Jay asked quickly.

"Y-Yeah," Nya said, rubbing her stomach lightly, trying to ease the pain. "It's from yesterday. I slammed into that ledge pretty hard... I might've cracked a rib or something. But I'll live." Jay looked at her, a disbelieving look on his face.

"If you say so..." he said, picking up his bag. "Hey, did you go and get your backpack before I woke up?"

"I was actually gonna ask if you got it," Nya admitted. "It just sorts... showed it. The note was pinned on top of it when I woke up."

"The sickos running this thing probably left it there for you," Jay muttered, walking over to the grey and red backpack. He picked it up, handing it to Nya. "Well, we might as well take it with us." Nya nodded, pulling the bag onto her shoulders as Jay did the same with his dark blue and grey bag. Jay walked over to the broken door, slightly pushing the door away from the frame and peering out of the room. Nya walked over to him, looking under his arm.

The hallway was pitch black, except for the sliver of light coming from the door of the room that they were in. But the slight amount of light was showing the floor of the hallway, which had the same, dingy grey tiles. But there were also strange claw marks, which were deep grooves in the floor, each one in groups of four.

"It's like it's not even daytime..." Nya said quietly, taking the flashlight in her hand and shining it out into the hallway. The weak yellow light did little to cut through the darkness.

"C'mon," Jay said, pushing the door away enough so he could slip through. He help it open for Nya, and once she was out, he slowly leaned it back against the frame, trying to make as little noise as possible. "We should probably keep moving. I, personally, don't want to run into whatever left those claw marks," Jay said in a hushed whisper. Nya only nodded in response, not trusting her voice to work.

The two started off down the hallway, going in the opposite direction of the hole in the floor. Neither of them were saying anything, and there was no noise, apart from the occasional clatter of a piece of stone on the tiles, or a distant wail or scream.

"Why do you think we're here?" Nya asked. Jay looked over at her, stopping.

"I... I don't really know," he said slowly. "It might be for some kind of experiment or something like that. I don't remember signing up for anything like this, though. Heck, I don't remember signing up for _anything_. But we don't really have a choice now, huh?"

"Yeah," Nya said. "All we can do now is find our way out of here." Jay let out a heavy sigh through his nose,shaking his head. Nya could barely see his movements in the dark.

"Let's just... keep going," he said, beginning to walk forward again. Jay held out his hand, and Nya looked at him, confused for a moment, before he pointed to the flashlight. "Can I please have that?"

"Are you sure you wanna go first?" Nya asked, taking the chain off of her neck.

"You're hurt," Jay reminded her. "You shouldn't go first. I can still afford to take a hit or two. You can't." Nya looked at him, disbelief on her face.

"Jay, neither of us can afford to take a hit," Nya said. "We don't know how strong any of the... things in here are."

"Yeah, but it's polite if I go first," Jay said with a grin, taking the flashlight from Nya's hand and hanging the chain around his neck. He turned the light on, shining the light down the hallway.

"What happened to your "don't use the flashlight" idea?"

"I... heh," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't see a damn thing in this place, so I have to use it." Nya chuckled, shaking her head. That's when a low moan began to echo through the hallways, sending shivers down Nya's spine. Jay took Nya's hand, pulling her against the wall and moving slowly.

The purple-haired boy from before was sitting against the wall, his knees up against his chest and his head in his hands. Luckily, he was on the opposite side of the hallway from Jay and Nya.

"You failed her Zander..." he was muttering, rocking back and forth. His body was wracked with sobs, and his right arm was now covered with gashes and blood. "She's dead... dead, dead, _dead_... Keira's dead, and it's all your fault... it's all your fault, Zander... all your fault..." Jay exchanged a glance with Nya, before looking back at the boy.

" _Keep going_ ," Jay mouthed, still holding her hand. She nodded, moving as quietly as possible. Once the two of them were past him, they quickly walked to the end of the hallway, where it branched off into two different directions. There was a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, bright light shining down the two hallways. Nya glanced back over her shoulder, surprised when she didn't see the boy, Zander, anymore. But his moaning and strangled sobs still echoed down the hallway.

"Nya," Jay said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "C'mon. There's another light down the hallway to the left."

"Are you sure we should go that way?" she asked, looking down the hallway to the right, which seemed clear of debris. The hallway to the left was clogged with broken tables and chairs, and had splatters of what appeared to be blood. "The other way looks much clearer..."

"And easier for us to get attacked in," Jay pointed out. "Sure, it'll be a little trickier to go this way, but it'll be harder for us to be surprised." She sighed, before turning to Jay, nudging him.

"Well then, what're you waiting for?" Nya said. "Let's get going." Jay gave a short nod before heading towards the debris. He shoved the flashlight down the collar of his t-shirt, crawling under one of the tables, and then pulling himself out onto a piece of concrete that had fallen from the ceiling. He sat, crouched on the concrete, before holding his hand out to Nya, helping her out from under the table.

The two weaved their way through the pile until Nya heard it creak. She instantly froze, not daring to even shift her position in the slightest. Jay continued to move, seeming unaffected by the sound.

"Nya?" he said, looking back after a minute. "What's wrong?"

"It's gonna break," she said quietly. "This isn't safe, Jay. I don't wanna fall again." Jay inched towards her.

"Nya, you're fine," he said, holding his hand out to her as he inched forwards. "It's not gonna break, and you won't fall. Okay? I'm right here." Nya then nodded, taking his hand and carefully moving towards him. But then the wood creaked again, and it then began to break.

"Move!" Jay cried, dragging Nya behind him as he quickly climbed over the pile. The pile then gave out from under them, and both of them were then falling through the air. Jay managed to grab part of the wood that hadn't fallen, and Nya was left dangling below him, clinging to his arm for dear life. "I can't pull us both up," Jay said, looking down at Nya. But then Nya felt herself being pulled up, and then Jay's other hand was on her wrist, pulling her onto the ledge.

Standing above them was a girl with tanned skin, black hair, and grey-blue eyes, and a boy with blonde hair, pale skin, and the same eye color.

"Who... who're you?" Jay asked.

 ** _Yay, a cliffhanger! Now, before you all get annoyed with me for not updating, and then leaving this chapter with a cliffhanger, but I've been really busy lately. School starts for me August 31, and I've had to do back to school shopping, and my summer reading book SUCKS, so I've been trying to choke that down. Anywho, I'll try and upload another chapter this weekend. CameronNinjaDragons, signing off._**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Time to introduce the two mystery characters! Oh, and just so you know, the girl is a TOTAL bitch to Nya. And later in the chapter, I'm actually gonna touch on the fact that Nya doesn't like anything that she can't pick up on almost instantly, like how she was acting in season five.**_

 _ **Haha, how long has it been since I last updated this story? Two and a half months...?**_

 _ **Oops...**_

 _ **Anywho, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! I'm sorry for the lack of activity on my part. Schools back in session, and shop has been a pain in my ass. It took us three and a half damn days to print one freaking t-shirt! Sadly, the emulsion on the screen was being an ass, and... I'm rambling about things that nobody else understands. Great...**_

 _ **Well, I suppose that it's just a side affect of being in Graphic Communications.**_

 _ **On with the story!**_

The boy looked down at Jay, before smiling and holding his hand out. Nya was watching the entire scene unfold, rubbing her throbbing stomach slightly in an attempt to dull the pain. The boy helped Jay to his feet, then turning and offering his hand out to Nya. She glared slightly at his hand, not entirely trusting him, before taking his hand, allowing him to help Nya to her feet.

Nya was absolutely shocked by how cold the teen's hand was. It was almost as if he had been standing outside for too long without gloves. His grip lingered for a moment, and once he let go, Nya walked over to where Jay was, standing next to him, crossing her arms tightly in front of her chest.

The other two teens had yet to say anything, and that was beginning to irritate, as well as scare, Nya.

"Who the heck are you?" Nya demanded, stepping forward. Jay quickly grabbed the handle on her backpack, keeping Nya from doing anything to the pair. The girl smirked at Nya, tucking her hair behind her ear before standing on her toes, whispering in her partner's ear. He chuckled, looking over at Jay and Nya.

"You're quite the little spitfire, aren't you?" The girl asked, taking a step towards Nya, making sure that she was just out of the girl's reach. "The name's Tala. That makes you... Nya, was it? I heard your partner try and calm you down. You're lucky Lykaios and I were here. That's where Zander almost lost Keira for the first time." The way that this girl was speaking made Nya's blood boil, and she struggled more in Jay's grip. Tala walked around Nya, Nya following the smaller girl's movements the entire time.

"Now, who are you?" Tala asked Jay, tilting her head to the side. She grasped his wrist, squeezing in such a way that his hand snapped open, and Nya fell face-first onto the ground. Her hand had been balled up into a fist, and her stomach landed right on top of it. She let out a cry of pain, arching her back to get her stomach off of her fist.

"Nya!" Jay said, pulling his wrist out of Tala's grip, helping his partner sit up. "Are you okay?" Nya coughed, nodding weakly.

"Y-yeah, Jay," she said quietly. "I'm okay." She saw Tala grin out of the corner of her eye.

"Jay, huh?" Tala asked. "Well then, birdie, how long have you two been in here?"

"N-none of your business," Nya growled, struggling to her feet. Jay stood up quickly, his hand near Nya in case she fell. Lykaios walked over to Jay, and Nya leaned away from him, wanting to stay as far away from the pair as possible.

"Tala can be a little... off," Lykaios said to Jay quietly. "She means well, though. This is just her way of testing you." Nya was able to hear what Lykaios was saying, but she still stayed away from him, her arms crossed. Jay nodded at Lykaios, before walking over to Nya, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jay asked, making sure that Tala and Lykaios couldn't hear what he was saying. "We can go off on our own again, if that's what you'd prefer." Nya sighed, shaking her head.

"As much as I don't like Tala, they know more about this place than we do," she admitted, glancing over at Tala and Lykaios. "I'll be fine around her for now. At least until we learn how this place works." Jay nodded, and Nya pulled away from him, walking over to the partners.

"Now, listen-!" Nya started, only to be cut off by Jay pulling her back by the loop on her backpack.

"Uh...let me take care of this, okay?" Jay said, speaking directly into Nya's ear. "I think I might have a... better way with words." Nya narrowed her eyes, huffing and turning away from him. Jay felt a pang of guilt, before turning and quickly walking over to Tala and Lykaios.

Nya let out a sigh, sitting down on the ground and swinging her backpack off of her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around it, resting her chin on top of the bag. She was ignoring the quiet murmurs from the conversation.

"Nya," Jay said, walking up behind her. "They said that they'll stick with us until we learn how to handle ourselves in here." Nya let out a sigh, turning away from Jay.

"Sure," she said dully. Jay sat down next to her, looking at her worriedly.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Other than the fact that we're probably gonna leave here with PTSD? Yeah, everything's great," she snapped, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Or that they're probably gonna ask us where the hell we were, and how we got here, and what the fuck happened to us? And we aren't gonna be able to tell anyone jack-shit?" Nya got to her feet, sighing through her nose. "Look, Jay. I don't know about you, but I have a brother to get back to. And he's probably scared shitless right now. How long have we been gone? Two days?"

Jay was stunned into silence.

There had been several times when he and Nya had bickered over the past two days, but this was different. She actually seemed to have a reason behind her point, other than something as simple as wanting to use the flashlight. She was scared, even being on the verge of terror, but what he couldn't understand was why being questioned about where they were would be an issue. He was interrupted by Nya getting to her feet, shoving past him as she walked away.

"Do whatever the fuck you want, bird-brain," Nya snapped again. "At least I won't have to deal with you once they lead us outta here. Let's go."

"Hey, you don't need to be such a brat about it!" Jay said, a little louder than he should have.

"What, do you parents wash your mouth out with soap whenever you swear? Well, here's a little news flash," Nya spun on her heel, grabbing the front of Jay's shirt and getting directly in his face. "Your _not_ home. For all we know, we could be on the other end of the goddamn planet. Nobody knows where the fuck we are, and _neither do we_. You better get used to it now, or you're gonna have one _hell_ of a time here."

"You don't know where we are either!"

"At least _I'm_ not freaking out and can _actually_ handle myself." Nya turned away from Jay again, storming off down the hallway. Jay quickly went to go after her.

"Don't even bother," Tala said, moving towards Jay. "If she's going off on her own, then she's as good as dead. Besides, you don't know what you're doing in here." Lykaios sighed, looking over at Jay.

"I'll go after her," he said, adjusting his bag and walking down the hallway. "Meet us at the main courtyard, okay? Tala knows where it is." Jay nodded, and Tala shrugged, before starting off down the hallway and ducking into a narrow hallway that branched off of the larger one.

"H-hey!" Jay said quickly, jogging after her. "Where're you going?"

"You heard Lykaios," Tala said simply, keeping up a quick pace before pulling a pack of gum out of her pocket. She popped a piece in her mouth, crumpling up the wrapper and tossing it on the floor behind her. "It gets pretty rough up ahead, so be careful. Lykaios and I found one of the Kyotes sleeping up here about a week ago, so we're gonna want to watch where we put our feet. Those things are scary as shit."

"What the heck is a Kyote?"

"It's a sorta... wolf-like animal, but it has colorful paws, ears, and tails," Tala explained, shrugging. "The one that we saw was a gray one with pink colorings. Those things can hear almost anything though, so keep as quiet as possible."

"Tails?"

"They usually have at least three tails, though it's not unheard of them to have more than that," she said, before holding out a piece of gum to Jay. "Want some?" Jay nodded, taking the gum and shoving the empty wrapper in his pocket.

"For your sake, I hope that your partner is okay."

 _ **Okay, so just so you know, Kyotes are pronounced (Kai-ote), and not Coyote, because, let's face it, they're not Coyotes. And I'll be using one of those things in the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed this extremely overdue update! CameronNinjaDragons, signing off.**_


	5. Author's Note (NEW!)

**_Okay, so, I know that you guys are expecting a chapter coming up soon, but... you're gonna have to wait a little longer._**

 ** _So, now, I know that this is off topic, but how many of you remember my Oc Wars? Y'know, the story where the readers help to decide the winner? Well, I actually could use some help with Strangers, too. Just... now in the same way that many of you are thinking._**

 ** _Mind you, I already have several different scenarios planned for this story, but what I'm planning on adding will get you guys introduced to Blue and Wess. What I'd like to do is add the chapter of my actual story at the end of each chapter of the fanfiction version. Meaning that Jay and Nya's story would come first, and that would have the entire chapter of it, and then the entire chapter of Wess and Blue's version of Strangers would come after it._**

 ** _I have a poll up on my profile if you guys would like to add your input._**

 ** _There's also another thing that I'd like to ask of you guys. I could use a couple of Beta readers for the fanfiction version, and if you guys could PM me if you're interested, that would be wonderful. And it'd also be a huge help if I could bounce a couple of ideas for the story off of you guys, and for those of you that would let me do that, and for my beta readers as well, I would be more than willing to give you a few sneak peeks for this story, so long as you promise to not tell anyone._**

 ** _I hope you understand the lack of writing, and I'll try to get a new chapter up soon! CameronNinjaDragons, signing off._**


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